When you charge an insulator by friction, the close contact of two electron clouds (each from a different medium) allows for electrons to be transferred between them. The number of atoms coming in contact to each other by friction is proportional to the area of the two insulators rubbed together.
What causes electrical polarization?
Polarization occurs when an electric field distorts the negative cloud of electrons around positive atomic nuclei in a direction opposite the field. This slight separation of charge makes one side of the atom somewhat positive and the opposite side somewhat negative.
How can an insulator be overall neutral but carry a surface charge when polarized?
6. By considering the molecules of an insulator, explain how an insulator can be overall neutral but carry a surface charge when polarized. Inside the insulator, the oppositely charged ends of the molecules cancel each other. Inside the insulator, the oppositely charged ends of the molecules do not cancel each other.
Can all insulators be polarized?
Insulators (and dielectrics) are also able to be polarized. The electrons in insulators/dielectrics are bound quite tightly to the nucleus of their atom. All they can do is move a bit within the atom or molecule.
Are Conductors polarized stronger than insulators?
In either case, the side of the insulator closest to the positive charge develops a layer of negative charge, while the opposite side develops a positive layer. Insulators polarize just as conductors do, though the mechanism is different. The difference is one of degree: conductors are much better at polarizing.
Which is an example of insulator?
Examples of insulators include plastics, Styrofoam, paper, rubber, glass and dry air. The division of materials into the categories of conductors and insulators is a somewhat artificial division.
Which of the following is the slowest polarization method?
8. Which of the following is the slowest polarisation method? Explanation: Space charge polarisation is very slow because in this case, the ions have to diffuse over several interatomic distances. Also, this process occurs at a very low frequency.
What is the end result when a neutral object is polarized?
In this way, one end of the doorknob becomes positively charged and the other end becomes negatively charged. This is called polarization. Polarization occurs whenever electrons within a neutral object move because of the electric field of a nearby charged object.
Where does polarization occur in an insulator or conductor?
Polarization can occur within insulators, but the process occurs in a different manner than it does within a conductor. In a conducting object, electrons are induced into movement across the surface of the conductor from one side of the object to the opposite side.
How can an insulator such as a wooden wall be polarized?
Being a conductor, electrons were capable of moving from atom to atom across the entire surface of the conductor. But what if the object being polarized is an insulator? Electrons are not free to move across the surface of an insulator. How can an insulator such as a wooden wall be polarized? How Can an Insulator be Polarized?
How are electrons induced to move in an insulator?
In a conducting object, electrons are induced into movement across the surface of the conductor from one side of the object to the opposite side. In an insulator, electrons merely redistribute themselves within the atom or molecules nearest the outer surface of the object.
What happens when an insulator comes close to a positive rod?
When a positive rod comes close to an insulator, all of its atoms polarize in this way, with the electron clouds leaning towards the rod and the nuclei leaning away. In some materials (like water), the molecules themselves are naturally polar: they don’t have to stretch, they just rotate their negative end towards the positive rod.